If We Could : A Poem for Masechet Sanhedrin

#sanhedrin #takingtalmud #dafyomi #masechetsanhedrin #mashiach #moshiach #rabbiakiva #rabbiakiba #sing #singeveryday

Hello! This is the fifth year of the cycle of Daf Yomi, where students study one page of Talmud per,day for more than seven years. I have tried to follow th Daf these years and it has been my practice to read a poem at the ceremony to complete each of the tractates.

Today we mark the completion of Masechet Sanhedrin, which covers governance of the people. It spends time on the responsibilities of kings and witnesses, the death penalty and how to do everything to try to avoid proceeding it.

The final chapters of Sanhedrin were my favorites to learn, particularly the chapters on the Messiah. Mashiach (messiah) is a word and concept we hear much about and understand very little. I think that the rabbis of the Talmud also tried in their own way to figure out this abstract figure. When discussing when the messiah will come one rabbi will set out a set of circumstances while another rabbi will set out the opposite. The impression that remained with this humble student is that we do not know when the mashiach will come and who it might be. What I do know though, is that Jews have prayed and hoped for mashiach for generations. When things are dismal, as they have often been over the course of Jewish history, there has been talk about the time of the mashiach approaching. Mashiach is a concept that provides us with a hope for a better world, and even if that hope is sometimes dashed, the hope still remains.

This poem is about the mashiach. I hope it conveys that we are not sure what will bring Mashiach or who it might be, but not knowing keeps us hoping a searching.

Thank you to my teachers, who bring me the knowledge of the Talmud each and every day. We begin Masechet Makkot this week. Maybe it is time for you to jump in!

The second poem is one that Inwould like to leave you with…As we approach Passover, the holiday of spring and freedom, I hope that the poem about singing everyday will remind you to sing and to sing for others who cannot. That you, Rabbi Akiba, for inspiring us with these words.

As always, thank you for reading this post.

With wishes for a Chag Pesach Sameach.

Leann

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If We Could

If we could just reach a little higher,

dig a little deeper.

If we could just see things clearer,

hug a little tighter,

maybe that would bring mashiach

If we could find the right words

If we could see the other in ourselves 

If the other could just see us for who we are,

maybe that would bring Mashiach

If we could just go a little faster.

If we could just slow down.

If we could could take a step closer.

If we could just pull away.

If we could just listen more.

If we could talk less,

Doubt less, assure more

maybe that would bring mashiach.

If we knew when to step forward,

when to step back.

When to be stubborn

and when to let things go.

If we could remember to be kind. 

If we could remember to stand tall

If we could remember to be more humble.

If we could just love more,

hate less

Maybe that would bring mashiach

If we could give more,

take less.

If we could find the right time. 

If we would honor our place.

If we could see more with our eyes.

Hear the truth with our ears.

Feel more with our hearts. 

Perhaps that would bring mashiach 

Or perhaps the Mashiach is already here,

sitting next to you.

Or perhaps it is you.

We will never know.

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אָמַר אַבָּיֵי: לָא פָּחֵית עָלְמָא מִתְּלָתִין וְשִׁיתָּא צַדִּיקֵי דִּמְקַבְּלִי אַפֵּי שְׁכִינָה בְּכֹל דָּרָא, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר ״אַשְׁרֵי כׇּל חוֹכֵי לוֹ״ – ״לוֹ״ בְּגִימַטְרִיָּא תְּלָתִין וְשִׁיתָּא הָווּ. אִינִי? וְהָאָמַר רָבָא: דָּרָא דְּקַמֵּי קוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא תַּמְנֵי סְרֵי אַלְפֵי פַּרְסָה הָוֵאי, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר ״סָבִיב שְׁמֹנָה עָשָׂר אָלֶף״! לָא קַשְׁיָא: הָא דְּמִסְתַּכְּלִי בְּאִיסְפַּקְלַרְיָא הַמְּאִירָה, הָא דְּמִסְתַּכְּלִי בְּאִיסְפַּקְלַרְיָא שֶׁאֵינָהּ מְאִירָה.

Apropos that verse, Abaye said: The world has no fewer than thirty-six righteous people in each generation who greet the Divine Presence, as it is stated: “Happy are all they who wait for Him [lo]” (Isaiah 30:18). The numerical value of lo, spelled lamed vav, is thirty-six. The Gemara asks: Is that so? But doesn’t Rava say: The row of the righteous before the Holy One, Blessed be He, extends eighteen thousand parasangs, as it is stated with regard to the city of God at the end of days: “It shall be eighteen thousand reeds round about, and the name of the city from that day shall be: The Lord is there” (Ezekiel 48:35)? The Gemara answers: It is not difficult; this statement of Abaye refers to the thirty-six righteous people who view the Divine Presence through a luminous crystal [be’ispaklarya], and that statement of Rava refers to the multitudes who view the Divine Presence through a crystal that is not luminous.

Sanhedrin 97b

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Zemer, Zemer Kol Yom

Sing, sing every day!

In the words of Rabbi Akiba,

sing, my friends, sing!

Find a reason to sing every day.

Sing for yourselves 

Sing for your people

Be a voice for those who cannot sing.

Be their voice!!

Let your voice rise up.

Sing for spring is upon us.

Zemer, zemer kol Yom

Sing, my people, sing!

זַמֵּר בְּכל יוֹם, זַמֵּר בְּכל יוֹם. אָמַר רַב יִצְחָק בַּר אֲבוּדִימִי: מַאי קְרָא? שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״נֶפֶשׁ עָמֵל עָמְלָה לּוֹ כִּי אָכַף עָלָיו פִּיהוּ״. הוּא עָמֵל בִּמְקוֹם זֶה, וְתוֹרָתוֹ עוֹמֶלֶת לוֹ בְּמָקוֹם אַחֵר.

Sing every day, sing every day, i.e., review your studies like a song that one sings over and over. Rav Yitzḥak bar Avudimi says: From what verse is this derived? It is as it is stated: “The hunger of the laborer labors for him; for his mouth presses upon him” (Proverbs 16:26), i.e., he exhausts his mouth through constant review and study. He labors in Torah in this place, this world, and his Torah labors for him in another place, the World-to-Come.

Sanhedrin 99b

הַמָּשִׁיחַ